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First Contact: Another Story
Log #: 1 Date/Time: Unknown Location: Somewhere in the cosmos - My name is Jessica Fletcher. I was, until about half an hour ago, the princess and next heir of the planet ''Ashafan. The whole place is probably dying at the moment, possibly even already dead, but I'm as happy as anything to be leaving it that way. I'm currently hurtling through the empty vacuum of space at several times the speed of light in a very small ship meant for emergency use only. Sounds like anyone's idea of a good time, eh? This log is the first of the likely hundreds more I will write to journal any, if at all, events that will take place during this endeavor. Mostly, though, it'll just be used as a way of keeping me sane for the next indefinite number of months it takes for me to reach my destination. If you, computer, had a brain and a set of vocal chords you would probably ask me what my destination was. Well, since I literally have nothing else to do other than sleep, breathe, circulate and adapt to the feeling of artificial gravity until you decide to give me my dinner, I will tell you. I am trying to reach a planet 56.8 light years south of here called Earth.'' I've studied that place since I was able to read complete sentences and always fantasized about visiting it, always believing somewhere in the dusty corners of my head that I may have earthling blood in me, but I had never, not in my most twisted and unconventional thoughts that come into my head when I try to sleep, ever imagined that I may have been born there. Well, it turns out I was. And I didn't have a human for a great-great-grand second uncle twice-removed as I had always thought. I had one for a father. ''Have one, actually, as far as I'm aware he's still alive. And that's the entire reason I'm in this tin can of a space ship in the first place. I need to find him, he and my brother are the only family I've got left. Oh, I never mentioned I had a brother, did I? Yeah, I was just as shocked as you are. Still am, actually. One minute I was walking around, minding my own business, trying my hardest not to get burned to death by an angry armada, then BAM! My mother tells me with her final breath that I have a twin brother that I was separated from at birth. Yeah, not exactly something you experience every day of your life. Then again, it's clear from here on out my life will be far from normal. When you're a member of an endangered species, your life can never be normal. It's not even remotely possible. Not that my life was normal before, of course, but hopefully this life-changing alteration will be for the better. Don't see how it couldn't as a matter of fact. Anything has to be better than the daily-torture-of-a-life I'm leaving behind.'' Ah, it would seem you, computer, have finally been kind enough to provide me with chow. So I guess this is Jessie Fletcher signing off. Here's to a better future in another world. I scooted the hover chair away from the keyboard and heaved a heavy sigh, making my curly green cowlick flutter out of my face. The concentrated oxygen felt a little strange in my lungs, but it was better than nothing. As I began to unenthusiastically consume my dehydrated meal, I closed my eyes and went over in my head everything that had happened in the last few hours. It was mostly a confused, terrifying blur (I figure most attacks from alien invaders are that way) but the most vivid parts were burned into my head like a hot brand. I remembered waking up to the sound of explosions and a person screaming. I remembered tripping over a body, a dead body who I didn’t have time to identify, as I ran for my life from my room. I remembered nearly getting trampled to death by a throng of panicked people. I remembered seeing the bullies, the same bullies who had tried to drown me when I was seven, cowering in the corner of a destroyed building, crying like little kids. But more than anything, I remembered seeing my mom die. As much as I knew she hated me and as hard as I tried not to hate her back, I am never going to get the image out of my head of my mom, normally the epitome of intimidation and ferocity, lying half-dead on the ground, struggling with her last breath to speak to me. I shuddered a little at the memory as I bit down on a piece of dried fruit.I told myself to forget about it. All that mattered now was what she told me: My dad’s name is Lawrence Fletcher, my brother’s is Ferdinand. They live somewhere on the planet Earth. I’m wasn’t sure what their exact location was, but the ship’s GPS was pinpointed to it. I was homeward bound. That thought helped me sleep that night, even though curling up against the wall on an unheated cushion isn’t exactly what I would consider comfortable. Log #: 2 Date/Time: Unknown Location: Somewhere in the Milky Way -- It’s been a while since I last wrote in this. Can’t exactly HOW long, since I don’t have any sense of time up here, but you’ve provided me with about the amount of food I’d eat in twenty-four hours since then. Course, I ate like royalty back in my place, so it could very easily be longer. I highly doubt you take requests, but would you mind adding a little more liquid to the menu? I know it’s for preservation purposes, but dry food will probably get old real soon. I pity anybody who hasn’t seen what the stars look like when they’re a billion miles away from any sort of light pollution. You could almost say space is a constant void of stars filled in between dark matter instead of a constant field of dark matter filled in between with stars. You can actually see their color difference when you’re out here. I suspect you already know this, having a 2.5 petabyte memory, but stars actually range in color from blue to red, with almost every color in between. They all look white from home, but out here they’re like paints on a picture. I may be bored half to death at the moment, but at least the stargazing out here is good. Jessie, out. Log #: 13 Date/Time: Unknown '' ''Location: Somewhere in the empty vacuum of space, as usual. '' - ''I think it may have been a whole month since take off... '' ''It feels like a year, though. I think this extended period of loneliness is doing bad things to my head. An hour after my last log, I started talking to my toothbrush, and I swear I heard it talking back to me. It was telling me to please stop talking to it, since it was a toothbrush and toothbrushes obviously lack the ability to speak. In the end I found out it was only me speaking the entire time, and I was talking to myself. I need to get a grip... Log #: 14 Date/Time: Unknown Location: Same old, same old... ''-'' All this solitude is starting to become painful. It’s like there’s an achy cavity in my head, and it can't be fixed by a dentist. Well, if there were a dentist here, it would be nice, at least I'd have someone to talk to. I mean, I’m used to not having any friends, but now I feel like I’m never going to see another living thing as long as I live. There’s nothing out here but stars and rocks and more stars. I love stars. Seriously, I do, but even the coolest things grow old after you stare at them for a month and a half. I think I almost had a breakdown the other night when you wouldn’t turn on and I needed to vent. You owe me an extra snack for that. Why am I talking to a computer...? Log #: 15 Date/Time: Unknown Location: Half way there '' - ''Okay, I FINALLY figured out how to read this Universal Positioning System of yours. Dangit, it’s complicated, but I now know where in the universe I am. Figuring it out helped sooth my lonely head. Anyway, I found some good news and I found some bad news. The good news is, I’m about halfway to the solar system this ship is heading to. The bad news is, there’s a massive asteroid field about 24 hours ahead of me. I can’t alter course, doing so would deactivate the autopilot, so I’m going to have to navigate it. Chances of success aren’t looking too hot, but if it means possibly making it to Earth, I’d do it with my eye’s closed and one hand tied behind my back if I had to. Anything to get out of this monkey-freakin’ ship... '' ''No offence... Log #: 16 Date/Time: Unknown Location: No time, I think you know. - That asteroid field I mentioned before is only a matter of seconds ahead of me. In case this is the last thing I ever write, there’s something I always wanted to see in text: Drinking juice sends you to death because drinking juice will keep you sane and being sane, you'll do sports and doing sports, you'll be famous and being famous will make you travel around world, where you can get severe illness. Thus, don't drink juice. Oh, and if hazelnuts had the ability to cure hickeys, the universe would be a very different place than it is today. Alarm just went off...asteroids approaching... Switching to manual steering... Shoot, I need to go. Log #17 Date/Time: Unknown Location: Past the asteroid field. Boo-ya. ''-'' Yep, you heard that right. I did it. I survived. It required more concentration than anything else I’ve ever done in my life, but I still did it. I’ve never felt so alive ^_^ I think that little adventure knocked some sense into me. I can think a lot more clearly now, and I got more sleep last night than I’ve had in days. Call me crazy, but I’m starting to feel hopeful. Log #27 Date/Time: Unknown Location: SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE...... ''-'' For my status report I have news of both varieties: Bad: There’s a little red light flashing above your food dispenser. I don’t know what that means, but generally flashing red things are often associated with something negative, particularly if they are also making a beeping noise. Good: Only a week left, at max. I’m almost home. To be continued... Category:Fanon Works